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Gen. Mike Minihan, Commander of Air Mobility Command, visits the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station June 8, 2024.

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Only they can put out aircraft fires

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Andrew Caya
  • 914th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
NIAGARA FALLS AIR RESERVE STATION, N.Y. --  Fire and smoke engulfs what looks like an aircraft frame at the end of the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station flight line in early September.

Installation firefighters armed with their silver fire proximity suits and hoses surround the blazing fuselage and combat the intense flames. Once the firefighters put out the inferno, outside as well as inside the structure, another group steps up and the skeleton of the aircraft erupts in flames again to let another group of firefighters practice their skills

"This exercise is to maintain our proficiency at aircraft firefighting," said Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station Chief Firefighter Ed McDonald. "It's hot and it's hard work.... But that's what is so great about Air Force and Department of Defense fire protection: we actually get to go inside the plane to rescue the aircrew and passengers."

In order to rescue fellow Airmen and civilians from a burning aircraft, physical training as well as teamwork is a huge necessity for firefighters.

"You need to be coordinated as a group," said Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station firefighter Billy Tiedeman. "When you run into a burning aircraft, you're not scared, but you respect it; you have to respect the heat and expect the unexpected."

While installation firefighters were brushing up on their aircraft fire protection skills, one Airman donned the silver suit and ran into the flames that engulfed the mock-up aircraft for the first time.

"I always see our guys do this while I am taxiing to take off on the flight line and I have always wanted to do it," said 914th Airlift Wing Commander Col. Al Swartzmiller.

After training with the professionals, Swartzmiller complimented them on their physical and mental stamina.

"I have a deep appreciation for how fit firefighters have to be," said Swartzmiller. "They might not have to run a 5K event, but they need the ability to lift a lot of weight and have strong backs, legs and arms. I was in there for only ten minutes but firefighters have to fight a blaze like that for their entire shift. The aircrews ought to take comfort in the fact that the firefighters have their backs; these guys are real professionals," the wing commander added.


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